Brain therapy giving hope of new way to conquer afflictions

[Source: AzCentral] – Martha Buckalew had a great life. She traveled with her husband, drove her golf cart to garage sales in Sun City, played bridge with friends.

Then she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. Her gait slowed and stiffened. Her hands shook so badly she couldn’t hold a pen. She fainted at church.

In December, Buckalew was wheeled into an operating room. A neurosurgeon drilled two holes into her skull, inserted electrodes in her brain and sent her back to a better life.

The treatment is deep-brain-stimulation therapy, or DBS, which uses electrical pulses to quiet her tremors. It has been used as a last-resort medical treatment since 1997 for people with certain movement disorders.